Jalal Barzanji

Childhood and Family

Jalal Barzanji was born in Ashkawsaqa, a village in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. He is the second child of seven siblings — five brothers and two sisters. His village lacked basic services, including electricity. Barzanji’s upbringing allowed him to experience life's simplicity, which inspired his poetry.

In 1960, the village received its first school and Barzanji was enrolled as a student at age seven. However, Iraqi army warplanes bombarded his village, smashing many buildings including his school. At the time, the Iraqi government wanted to suppress the Kurdish independence movement.

Barzanji's family fled to the city of Erbil, the current capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government. Moving from his village to the city was a significant milestone for him. It gave him access to a local library where he could read books and newspapers for hours at a time in the 1960s and 1970s.

Early Career and Achievements

In the early 1970s, Jalal Barzanji started writing poems. He published them in several newspapers and magazines. As a journalist, he wrote many articles about the Kurds’ right to study in their mother tongue, freedom of speech and human rights.

He also kept up with his studies and completed a teaching diploma. In 1976, he became a Kurdish-language teacher. However, in the 1970s, the Iraqi regime began implementing an Arabization policy in the Kurdish majority area of Iraq. Barzanji used his position at the school to raise awareness among students, encouraging them to read books and to learn about Kurdish culture. The government threatened him frequently.

Barzanji also established and contributed to various writing organizations. In 1980, he founded the Modern Poetry Group, before becoming the editor of Voice Magazine in 1982. During this period, he helped found the Children’s Foundation (1982–85) to support and advocate for the rights of children affected by political turmoil and conflict in Kurdistan. In 1992, he became a board member of the Kurdish Writers Union. Two years later, in 1994, he took on the role of Executive Director at the Hawler Culture Department.

The Price of Freedom

Early on, Jalal Barzanji criticized the Iraqi government’s oppression and racism against the Kurds. He fought for freedom of expression and against human rights abuses under the Ba’ath party regime. As a result, he faced censorship, imprisonment and torture. When he wrote his first poetry book, Dancing in the Evening Snow, the Iraqi censorship committee rejected it three times until he was finally allowed to publish it in 1979.

Writing censorship and difficulties did not stop Barzanji from being vocal and teaching children. In 1986, unidentified people kidnapped him from his home and took him to prison. He was in prison for two years, from 1986 to 1988, where he shared a cell with others and only had a 35- centimetre space to sleep. While in prison, he was tortured and beaten.

Barzanji’s family was also at risk. The government kept a close watch on them because of what Barzanji did. After two years in prison, without a trial or lawyer, he was forgiven on Saddam’s birthday along with hundreds of others. His liberation from jail was not the end of his ordeals; he was expelled from his teaching job as well as various positions within cultural organizations.

In 1991, the Kurdish people rose against Saddam’s regime and gained semi-autonomy. (See also Persian Gulf War, 1990–91.) Barzanji was determined to pursue his goals of cultural diversity, freedom of expression and peace. However, civil wars erupted between Kurdish parties. In 1996, with a broken heart, he ended up leaving the country for Turkey. Through the United Nations, he immigrated to Canada with his wife, two daughters and a son in 1998.

Poetry in Canada

Jalal Barzanji landed in Edmonton, Alberta aiming to build a better life. However, he faced several challenges, including culture shock, language barriers and trauma due to his years in prison. Despite this, he came to develop a deep love for Canada, because the country offered him freedom and safety, allowing him to write without fear. This support helped him tackle his problems and integrate into Canadian society. In his new home, his mind shifted from the horrors of prison to hope, bringing new ideas and perspectives into his poetry.

Barzanji knew that a gap between the Kurdish community and Canadian culture caused misunderstandings and isolated many Kurds. In 2000, he established the Canadian Kurdish Friendship Association, to teach Canadians about the Kurdish culture and their ordeals. Also, he encouraged Kurdish newcomers to engage with Canadian society.

His ambitions grew bigger as he aimed to help all newcomers, not only Kurds, to connect with Canadian culture. He became a cultural adviser and assisted many people from different backgrounds to integrate into Canadian society.

Barzanji was honoured to be named Edmonton’s first Writer-in-Exile in 2007. That allowed him to work as a writing coach and mentor at the Edmonton Public Library and the University of Alberta, assisting those who were passionate about writing and sharing their stories.

From Pain to Peace Through Jail Memoirs

Jalal Barzanji developed his poetry skills and had more opportunities to share his work. Sharing his prison experiences with other writers inspired him to publish his stories. In 2011, he published his memoir, The Man in Blue Pyjamas, with the University of Alberta Press.

In his memoir, despite being treated harshly by Saddam Hussein's regime, he focuses on tolerance, living together peacefully and combating racism, discrimination and the spread of hatred.

Rewards and Achievements

• RISE Award (2004)
• First International Edmonton-PEN Writer-in-Exile (2007)
• Berton House Writer-in-Residence, Dawson City (2009)
• Salute to Excellence, Arts and Culture, City of Edmonton (2014)
• Edmonton Poetry Festival – Headliner (2015)
• Edmonton Arts & Culture Hall of Fame (2015)
• Honorary doctorate (Letters), University of Alberta, (2022)

Books

• The Dancing of the Evening Snow (1979)
• No Warmth (1985)
• War (1996)
• The Rain of Compassion (2002)
• In Memory of a Person Swept by the Wind (2003.
• I Want to be Named Home (2006)
• On Going Back to Birth Place (2007)
• Trying Again to Stop the Time (2009)
• The Man in Blue Pyjamas (2011)